Zendesk has accepted a $10.2BN all-cash acquisition bid by global investment firms Permira and Hellman & Friedman LLC.
The deal concludes months of internal battles, as shareholders rallied against the board of directors following its failed acquisition of Momentive Global, the parent company of SurveyMonkey.
Indeed, prominent shareholder and – in recent times – naysayer JANA Partners ended its proxy fight with the leading CX technology vendor after the announcement.
Looking forwards, Mikkel Svane, Founder, Chairman, and CEO at Zendesk, predicts a bright future for the company. He stated:
This is the start of a new chapter for Zendesk with partners that are aligned with the strength of our agile products and talented team, and are committed to providing the resources and expertise to continue our growth trajectory.
“With Hellman & Friedman and Permira’s support, we’ll continue to execute on our long-term strategy with our customers as our top priority, taking full advantage of the opportunity we see to help businesses navigate the ever changing expectations and demands of their customers.”
Despite this positivity, the deal is notably smaller than the $17BN private equity bid made to the company in February 2022. At the time, Zendesk rejected the offer as it “undervalued” the company.
Furthermore, the sun may not yet set on what seems to be the most turbulent of times in recent Zendesk history. Indeed, Weiss Law is investigating “possible breaches of fiduciary duty and other violations of law” by Zendesk’s board of directors.
For now, however, the dealmakers are remaining upbeat. Tarim Wasim, Partner at Hellman & Friedman, said:
“We see tremendous value in Zendesk’s platform and ability to grow at scale. Its intuitive yet powerful offering serves over 100,000 companies, ranging from the smallest businesses to the largest enterprises.
We deeply believe in the company’s growth opportunity as it continues to help businesses across the world delight their customers.
Notably, the deal comes at a significant premium to Zendesk’s trading price, which will delight shareholders. As will stock prices increasing by 29% to $74.75 after Friday’s announcement.
Elsewhere, Zendesk has recently announced a series of upgrades to its solutions portfolio, which will also help steer the business towards a brighter outlook. These include new CRM enhancements and added employee experience capabilities.
Matthias Goehler, CTO EMEA at Zendesk, introduced these while exclusively talking to CX Today.
